Confidentiality

The practice complies with The Data Protection Act and Access to Medical Reports Act. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from community nurses and hospital services.

To help you get access to other health services e.g. from social care organisations . This requires your consent.

When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases.

Anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help NHS Digital (previously Health & Social Care Information Centre) and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

Freedom of Information

Summary Care Record

The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.

Later on as the central NHS computer system develops, (known as the ‘Summary Care Record’ – SCR), other staff who work in the NHS will be able to access it along with information from hospitals, out of hours services, and specialists letters that may be added as well.

Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on secure central NHS databases.

As with all new systems there are pros and cons to think about. When you speak to an emergency doctor you might overlook something that is important and if they have access to your medical record it might avoid mistakes or problems, although even then, you should be asked to give your consent each time a member of NHS Staff wishes to access your record, unless you are medically unable to do so.

On the other hand, you may have strong views about sharing your personal information and wish to keep your information at the level of this practice. Connecting for Health (CfH), the government agency responsible for the Summary Care Record have agreed with doctors’ leaders that new patients registering with this practice should be able to decide whether or not their information is uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System.

For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.

Enhanced Data Sharing Model (eDSM)

SystmOne is the clinical computer system used by Penryn Surgery.

As part of SystmOne, there is a facility called an Enhanced Data Sharing Model (eDSM). With your permission, this allows any other services who also use SystmOne to access your GP clinical data in the course of your health care.

If you do not wish to share any of your GP clinical data, you can opt out of this service and if you don't ever want your record viewed by anyone other than your GP, you have a further choice to request that consent override is prevented.

If however you do wish to share your GP clinical data, you can opt into this service. Examples of services who may be able to access your information are other GP practices, Urgent Care and Out-of-hours services, District Nursing Teams and many more.

When you start receiving care from another care service that uses SystmOne, you have the right to either agree or disagree with them that they may view your SystmOne record. You do not have to have the same permissions for each service.

If you would like more information or would like to to opt in or out, please contact the Surgery.

GP2GP

The Practice also utilises the GP2GP electronic transfer of patient records. This is an electronic process enabling surgeries to send computer held patient records electronically to a patient's new surgery so they arrive much quicker than the paper notes. The paper notes will continue to be sent via an NHS mail delivery service. However, using this new electronic process means a copy of your notes gets to your new surgery much quicker, helping the doctors and nurses know the best way to treat you.

If you change practices permanently therefore, it is possible that your medical record will be transferred electronically and securely via the Spine. No data is retained on the Spine after transfer and your paper notes will still eventually be held by the GP you are now fully registered with.

GP2GP means that your medical record is available to your new doctor within a few minutes of registration, enabling much safer care.

Compliments, Comments & Complaints

At Penryn Surgery we value your feedback and use comments, suggestions, compliments and complaints to try and improve our services.

Some patients wish to acknowledge their gratitude and we greatly appreciate this encouragement. You may wish to voice your thanks to the member of staff concerned or the receptionist will pass your comments on.

If you feel something could be improved, or have any constructive suggestions with regard to the Practice, please ask to speak to the Duty Manager. We also have feedback forms in reception for any comments or suggestions.

We hope you will never have cause for serious complaint, but if so we follow the NHS Complaints Procedure, a more formal way of resolving a concern. Please ask for a leaflet.

If you wish to make a formal complaint, please put your complaint in writing to the Practice Manager and your letter will be acknowledged within 3 days. We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice.

For more information on the NHS Complaints procedure and a complaint form please click here Complaints Leaflet

If you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation, you should contact:

Health Watchon 0800 0381 281 who can provide local information and a signposting service.

or

SEAPAdvocacy who provide independent advice and support with regard to NHS complaints.

For more complex issues for resolution please contact NHS England on 0300 312233

The Health Service Ombudsman

The Health Service Ombudsman has published a booklet that describes the ‘six principles for remedy’ in relation to complaints handling and involves:

Getting it right

Being customer focused

Being open and accountable

Acting fairly and proportionately

Putting things right

Seeking continuous improvements

If you remain unhappy after everything has been done to try to resolve your concern or complaint you have the right to approach the Ombudsman. Tel: 0345 015 4033 Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.ukWrite: Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP.

Please open the above Non-NHS Fees 2018/19 document for a list of our private service fees.

Copies of this list are also displayed at our Penryn, Mawnan and Stithians Surgeries.

Insurance Forms, Certificates and Medicals :

Background :

The Government’s contract with GPs covers medical services to NHS Patients. In recent years, more and more organisations have been involving doctors in a whole range of non-medical work. This includes insurance companies and employers wanting to be sure that information provided is true and accurate.

Private work includes medicals, insurance claims and proposals, signing of certificates of various kinds including travel, copies of records, fostering and adoption reports and any administrative request which is outside normal NHS Healthcare Services

Why does it take so long just for a signature ?

The Practice aims for 21 days to process your non-nhs request from date of receipt at the Practice. However, some circumstances, (in line with GDPR regulations), and form types may lead to an increase in this time scale. It is the responsibility of the patient to ensure that requests are made in time for any specific date dead-lines they may have. Medicals, Forms, Certificates and Letters are not classed as medical emergencies and will not be considered as such.

When a doctor signs a certificate or completes are report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true. Therefore, in order to complete even the simplest of forms, the doctor needs to check the patient’s entire record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor and the patient.

Medicals: Your GP will assess each request individually. This is to ensure appropriate time is allocated for an appointment if your form or certificate require you to be seen. Once your GP has assessed your request, you will then be contacted by a member of our team who will be able to book your appointment for you and arrange to receive your payment. All non-NHS services require payment prior to your request being undertaken by the Practice.

Forms, Certificates & Letters : Your GP will assess each request individually. Once your GP has assessed your request, you will be contacted by a member of our team who will arrange to receive your payment. All non-NHS services require payment prior to your request being undertaken by the Practice.Once the non-NHS service has been completed, you will be contacted by one of the Secretarial Team to arrange collection.

Please note :We will delete any letters dictated by your Doctor and which have not been paid for within 4 weeks of you being notified of the fee payable.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) offers confidential advice, support and information on health-related matters. They provide a point of contact for patients, their families and their carers.

How do I contact my nearest PALS?

You can also ask your GP surgery, hospital or phone NHS 111 for details of your nearest PALS.

Practice Leaflet

The Practice leaflet is available at any of our receptions and can be viewed from this link : Practice Leaflet

CQC Report

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have published our report from their inspection in February 2016. We are delighted to report that we have been assessed as GOOD overall with some excellent comments from the inspectors on several areas of care.

Please click this link: CQC report Feb 2016 if you would like to read either the summary or detailed report.

PRACTICE CHARTER

We aim to provide our patients with the best quality care available. Our charter is a statement of what you can expect from this practice and what we feel we can expect from our patients.

What is the NHS Number?

Everyone registered with the NHS in England, Wales and the Isle of Man has a unique patient identifier called NHS Number. Most GP practices will send you a letter containing your NHS Number when you register with them.

Your NHS Number helps healthcare staff and service providers identify you correctly and match your details to your health records. This will ensure you receive safe and efficient care within the NHS.

Each NHS Number is made up of 10 digits shown in a 3-3-4 format, usually as follows (example only):

Your NHS Number is unique to you. The number will appear on most official documents and letters you receive from the NHS, including prescriptions, test results or hospital appointment letters. You don't need to know your NHS Number to receive care, and you should not be denied care on the basis you do not know, or do not have, an NHS Number.

However, having an NHS Number does not mean you are automatically entitled to the free use of all NHS services. Patients in England are required to pay patient contributions towards some NHS services they receive. Read more about paying NHS charges.

The first time you register with a GP practice, you will receive a GP registration letter which will confirm your NHS Number. If you can't find your NHS Number at home, your GP practice should be able to help you.

Note: medical cards are no longer issued in England. If you still have one it may have an old-style NHS Number made-up of both letters and numbers. However, in recent years this has been replaced for all patients with an NHS Number made containing only numbers (as shown in the example above).

You can find you NHS number in the following ways:

1) Prescriptions issued by GP surgery computers have your number below your name and address at the top

2) You can obtain your number by attending the Surgery with proof of identity. For your protection, we cannot disclose NHS numbers by phone or email.

Please note, your NHS Number is different from your National Insurance (NI) number, which is used for tax, benefits and pensions. If you have any questions about your NI number, contact your local office of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Hepatitis B Vaccinations

Occupational Health

Penryn Surgery is able to offer Hepatitis B Vaccinations as a non-NHS Service for occupational health purposes.

As this is a non-NHS Service, a fee is payable prior to the vaccination being given; indeed, the vaccine will not be purchased by the Practice until payment has been received.

If you would like to arrange to receive a Hepatitis B Vaccination, please select the link below, print off and complete the form and return it, with payment, to the Surgery.